smallpotato's birth story (late, as per usual)
Oct 25, 2016 8:21:50 GMT -5
Post by smallpotato on Oct 25, 2016 8:21:50 GMT -5
tl;dr version - An OB appointment showed high blood pressure. I was admitted to the hospital first for monitoring, then for delivery due to onset of preeclampsia. Garrett Charles was born via RCS on 10/14 at 10:40PM, weighing 7 pounds even and 20 inches long.
Long version - I had an OB appointment scheduled for 10/14 to meet with the doctor who would be performing my RCS. It was a busy morning; we dropped N at school and had a quick meeting with the director in preparation for the PPT meeting with the school district. We got to the appointment right on time, and I went back to the exam room. The nurse took my vitals, and commented that my blood pressure was high (147/98). The OB came in, did a cervical check, and stripped my membranes, and then had me get dressed to go into her office and discuss the C-section. It was at that point that I realized I had a huge hole in my pants.
I went to get MH, and we went into the office. I signed the consent form, and we discussed the possibility of tube removal at the time of the surgery. She then looked at my vitals, and asked the nurse to take my BP again. It came back at 122/98, so that got me a ticket to L&D. Luckily, the hospital is only 5 minutes from the doctor's office. I checked into triage around 11:30 and settled in. I gave blood and urine samples, and the midwife started an NST on the baby. While I was in triage, my BP came back to normal levels, but one of the liver enzyme tests was higher than it should have been. The midwife told me they were going to keep me overnight for observation and to do a 24 hour urine catch. I was moved to a room around 1:30, and told I could order lunch. Once I got to the room, my BP numbers went back up again. Around 4:00, MH left to pick N up at school. That was when things started happening.
About 10 minutes after he left, the on-call OB came in to my room. She told me that even though I was not having any headaches, the fact that my BP was still up, the liver enzyme numbers were abnormal, and my reflexes were hyper was enough for her to diagnose preeclampsia, and she recommended delivery. She gave me the option of induction or going right to the C-section. Since I ate lunch, the earliest I would have been able to go into the OR was 8:00 that night. I decided to go straight to the C-section, and she left to put all of the orders in. I called MH, told him what she told me, and he said he was coming right back. I called my mom to have her start making her way down to us so she could stay with N. What is normally a 2 hour drive took her 4 hours, and she arrived just as the nurses and OR staff were beginning to get me prepped. MH brought N downstairs, installed his car seat in my mom's car, and came back upstairs.
I was brought into the OR around 9:30. I got my spinal, which was not fun. I don't do well with the positioning I had to be in to insert the needle; I had the same issue when I got my epidural with N. Once everything was in, the anesthesiologist asked me what Pandora station I would like to listen to. I chose 90s pop, figuring I could sing along to distract myself from everything that was going on. MH came in, the music started, and everyone got to work. I felt no pain, just pressure, especially when they pulled him out. I heard him yell out and started crying. I also laughed when I realized that my son was born while "Hold My Hand" by Hootie and the Blowfish was playing. He scored 9 on both Apgar tests, and the nurse brought him over for MH to hold while the doctors stitched me up. We also announced his name, Garrett Charles, once MH had him.
I got to the recovery room around 11:30 or so. I saw on the white board in the OR that G was born at 10:40PM. G latched right on in the recovery room for about a half hour. The nurse started me on magnesium before taking me to my post-partum room. Once G was out, my BP slowly returned to normal. I was on the magnesium for 24 hours, and my blood work showed the higher numbers returning to normal as well. N came to the hospital on Saturday to meet G; at first he didn't really want anything to do with him, but now he is so loving and doting on his baby brother. Although I did not get the tubal, I am 99% sure we are two and through. I never imagined being a mom to two boys, but now I can't see my life any other way.
Long version - I had an OB appointment scheduled for 10/14 to meet with the doctor who would be performing my RCS. It was a busy morning; we dropped N at school and had a quick meeting with the director in preparation for the PPT meeting with the school district. We got to the appointment right on time, and I went back to the exam room. The nurse took my vitals, and commented that my blood pressure was high (147/98). The OB came in, did a cervical check, and stripped my membranes, and then had me get dressed to go into her office and discuss the C-section. It was at that point that I realized I had a huge hole in my pants.
I went to get MH, and we went into the office. I signed the consent form, and we discussed the possibility of tube removal at the time of the surgery. She then looked at my vitals, and asked the nurse to take my BP again. It came back at 122/98, so that got me a ticket to L&D. Luckily, the hospital is only 5 minutes from the doctor's office. I checked into triage around 11:30 and settled in. I gave blood and urine samples, and the midwife started an NST on the baby. While I was in triage, my BP came back to normal levels, but one of the liver enzyme tests was higher than it should have been. The midwife told me they were going to keep me overnight for observation and to do a 24 hour urine catch. I was moved to a room around 1:30, and told I could order lunch. Once I got to the room, my BP numbers went back up again. Around 4:00, MH left to pick N up at school. That was when things started happening.
About 10 minutes after he left, the on-call OB came in to my room. She told me that even though I was not having any headaches, the fact that my BP was still up, the liver enzyme numbers were abnormal, and my reflexes were hyper was enough for her to diagnose preeclampsia, and she recommended delivery. She gave me the option of induction or going right to the C-section. Since I ate lunch, the earliest I would have been able to go into the OR was 8:00 that night. I decided to go straight to the C-section, and she left to put all of the orders in. I called MH, told him what she told me, and he said he was coming right back. I called my mom to have her start making her way down to us so she could stay with N. What is normally a 2 hour drive took her 4 hours, and she arrived just as the nurses and OR staff were beginning to get me prepped. MH brought N downstairs, installed his car seat in my mom's car, and came back upstairs.
I was brought into the OR around 9:30. I got my spinal, which was not fun. I don't do well with the positioning I had to be in to insert the needle; I had the same issue when I got my epidural with N. Once everything was in, the anesthesiologist asked me what Pandora station I would like to listen to. I chose 90s pop, figuring I could sing along to distract myself from everything that was going on. MH came in, the music started, and everyone got to work. I felt no pain, just pressure, especially when they pulled him out. I heard him yell out and started crying. I also laughed when I realized that my son was born while "Hold My Hand" by Hootie and the Blowfish was playing. He scored 9 on both Apgar tests, and the nurse brought him over for MH to hold while the doctors stitched me up. We also announced his name, Garrett Charles, once MH had him.
I got to the recovery room around 11:30 or so. I saw on the white board in the OR that G was born at 10:40PM. G latched right on in the recovery room for about a half hour. The nurse started me on magnesium before taking me to my post-partum room. Once G was out, my BP slowly returned to normal. I was on the magnesium for 24 hours, and my blood work showed the higher numbers returning to normal as well. N came to the hospital on Saturday to meet G; at first he didn't really want anything to do with him, but now he is so loving and doting on his baby brother. Although I did not get the tubal, I am 99% sure we are two and through. I never imagined being a mom to two boys, but now I can't see my life any other way.
I chose the OneRepublic Pandora station, but my epidural took so long that the station went to sleep before DS was born. I was kind of bummed because I was looking forward to hearing what song was playing when he was born. 
